A local grandfather is anxious about the potential dangers posed by his proximity to the old Glassmullagh landfill site after his kid goat drowned in an uncovered hole at the closed dump.

As Peter Maguire fished the one day old animal out of the hole on Easter Monday, he thought: “What if this had been one of my 15 grandchildren?”
He put the incident out of his mind until last week when he read the Impartial Reporter article: ‘Damaged tank could have led to toxic leak at former dump’.

The article outlined how a leachate storage tank at the landfill site has been damaged, causing the potentially toxic liquid to leak from the inner tank into the surrounding outer tank. Leachate is the liquid formed when water flows through landfill waste and reacts with the different materials, metals and liquids. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) stated that “no leachate has escaped into the environment.” As he read the article, Mr. Maguire recalled putting his arm into the water to pull out the kid goat. His first thought was: “What the heck was in that hole?”

He has two questions for Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC): “How many more uncovered holes are there on the landfill site and was there any leachate in the water that I had my hand in when I was retrieving my animal?”

Mr. Maguire used to work as a bulldozer driver on site when the landfill was operational. “I know all the gunk that’s in there,” he commented.

A spokeswoman from FODC responded to say the hole was one of three infilled trial gas wells on the site. The filling of this hole did not reach to the top rim of the pipe. The three holes are now fitted with steel lids. She said the water in the hole was surface rain water “and it is impossible for any leachate to be in it.”

Mr. Maguire explained that on Easter Sunday his goat had twins, which his grandchildren named Esther and Floppy Ears. The goat and kids disappeared the following day and the goat returned with only one kid. “She must have jumped the fence onto the landfill so I waited until Tuesday to ring the council, because they were closed on Easter Monday, and the guy arrived out to me very promptly.” The council employee and Mr. Maguire found the kid goat drowned in an uncovered hole.

Reflecting on the incident, Mr. Maguire said: “I was putting my hand in there to retrieve the animal but yet I read your paper and see that there could be all sorts of concoctions in the water.” He added: “I’d like to be kept aware. Why are there no signs up warning people that there’s potentially toxic liquid underneath the ground? Why was I not informed about potential hazards?”
Mr. Maguire has lived beside Glassmullagh for 26 years. He had various gas monitors installed in his home and garden to monitor landfill gas after the landfill closed in 2006.

He continued: “I didn’t know that hole was there; what’s it for? There’s bound to be more than just one. I warn my grandchildren to never cross that fence onto the landfill but if you took your eye off the ball for a second, they could be over the fence and it could be one of them in that hole.”

When Glassmullagh landfill closed in 2006, after 39 years, the Council had to implement a range of measures to meet conditions set by NIEA. These included site capping, retro-fitted gas extraction wells and a gas engine, leachate collection systems and pumps, cut off drains, surface water management, reed beds and a comprehensive surface and groundwater monitoring programme.

The Council spokeswoman told The Impartial Reporter: “There are large signs on the site warning of hazardous gases and signs on all gas wells and boreholes warning of an exclusion zone.”